"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Flash! BLOOMBERG ENDS [the meaning of] POVERTY

If you are in the market to become the Republocrat Savior of the Poor, here's one way to do it: Just redefine what "poor" means so that your interventions can show the desired effect. From the NY Times:

The Bloomberg administration, frustrated by the federal government’s Great Society method of determining who is poor, is developing its own measure, which city officials say will offer a more modern and accurate picture of poverty.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wants to adopt the new measure in part so he can better assess whether the tens of millions of dollars the city plans to spend on new anti-poverty programs will improve poor people’s standard of living. . . .

. . . .Though city officials insist they are approaching this undertaking without bias, it is almost impossible to separate the process from politics. . . .

You think? If this doesn't work, how about some poverty report cards? I hear that Attorney Liebman has some ideas on that.